Recent advances in handheld device technology, such as smartphones, have enabled users to access and view increasingly detailed and sophisticated forms of graphical data, such as maps, documents, file libraries, and medical images. However, due to the limited screen real estate of handheld devices, or even traditional desktop or laptop computer screen monitors, users are often forced to choose between viewing either the finer graphical detail that may be provided in the context of a zoomed-in focal area of an image or the less detailed graphical data that is available or visible when viewing a broader focal area for the purpose of determining the context of a zoomed-in image.
FIG. 1, for example, depicts a conventional approach to displaying images on a handheld device. A handheld device 100, such as a smartphone, may include a screen 110 for displaying images and other graphical user interface controls. A user may interface with handheld device 100 through a touchscreen interface provided through device screen 110 or through various physical buttons or controls on the device. Device 100 may be capable of displaying images, such as maps, documents, or other graphical data on device screen 110. Using the example of displaying maps, a user may use device 100 to display an image 115 of a map on device screen 110. Device 100 may allow the user to scroll image 115 and thus focus on geographical regions adjacent to image 115.
Device 100 may also allow the user to zoom in or out from image 115 to display a larger or smaller geographical region in device screen 110. As the user zooms in or out, device 100 may display a new image 115 that contains more or less detail, such as roads or municipality labels. For example, if a user zooms out from the current geographical focus of image 115, device 100 may display a larger geographical area in device screen 110 and may reduce the amount of low-level geographical data by omitting the display of smaller roads or municipality labels. Conversely, if the user zooms in from the current geographical focus of image 115, device 100 may display a smaller geographical area in device screen 110 and may increase the amount of low-level geographical data by displaying more detail corresponding to individual roads, rivers, parks, neighborhoods, or labels identifying the same.
Although the above technique—namely, increasing or decreasing granularity, resolution, or graphical detail as an image is zoomed—allows a user to view both large and small geographical focus areas of a map, this technique does not enable the user to view both fine graphical detail and broader contextual graphical data at the same time. For example, if the user zooms in to focus on a particular neighborhood in a municipality, while the user may be able to view individual streets and street labels, the user will be unable to view the broader context of where within a larger area, such as a city or state, that particular neighborhood lies. However, if the user zooms out to the city or state level, the user will either not be able to see any fine detail regarding the neighborhood of interest, or such detail will be too small for the user to easily discern.
There is therefore a need for methods and systems for simultaneously viewing local and contextual images, such as maps, documents, libraries, or medical images such that a user may view both the fine detail of a particular area of interest as well as the broader context of that area of interest.